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Never Stop The Madness

March! I love it. The weather changes, the days get longer and there is this little basketball tournament that takes over my life. We all know it as March Madness, and I hope it never stops.

I tested my brain the other day and tried to remember as far back as I could on what year I started watching. This is going to really age me, but I got back as far as 1986. Louisville won it all and I was hooked for the next 30 years and counting. Yes, when the tourney fires up this week, it will be my 30th watching on TV.

So many highs and lows. I have seen my team, Michigan, win once and lose a handful of times in dramatic fashion. The players come and go, but the name on the front of the jersey stays true.

There is no other sporting event like it. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can get wrapped up into buzzer beaters and upsets. You don’t have to know anything about the sport or the players, all you need is a heart.

March also brings the pressure of brackets. Yes, we all do the brackets. It’s simple. You just pick a winner for each game and see how far you can get. There is no skill to it. I have just submitted my brackets to the family pool I enter each year and like always, I feel like I have nailed it.

Then by 4 pm tomorrow, I will look in the mirror and wonder what kind of moron I am for making such choices.

But I keep watching, because you never know what is going to happen. It’s about as unscripted as sports can be.

It’s also getting more fun each year because our boys love basketball. As soon as a game is on, they don’t care who is playing, they both say who they are and cheer like they go to the school.

The opening Thursday and Friday are like holidays to me and it’s amazing when it works out that I can watch the games. There is no other time when there is basketball on for 12 hours in a day.

Here is a game I have watched so many times. I even have a VHS copy some where.

I watched it in my parent’s basement, alone and highly stressed.

Then there was this game. Yes the Wolverines lost in the final, but I loved this win against Kentucky.

In 2011, I had maybe my best run in the family pool. Why? I jumped on the back of Kemba Walker.